#438 - Identiverse 2026 - Sean O'Dell

Recorded live at Identiverse 2026 in Las Vegas, Jeff sits down with Decoded co-host Sean O'Dell for a wide-ranging state of the union on continuous identity, shared signals, and the identity questions AI keeps raising. Sean shares what he is hearing on the ground about the upcoming transaction tokens spec, why continuous identity has moved from concept to mainstream adoption, and how shared signals are expanding into commerce. The conversation shifts to AI: the real cost of securing it, why model provenance matters, and the murky question of who is on the hook when an AI agent makes an expensive or harmful decision on your behalf. They debate companion agents, consent versus power of attorney, and whether the identity industry even owns this problem. Sean closes with a simple piece of advice for anyone feeling overwhelmed by AI right now.

Connect with Sean: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanodentity/

Connect with us on LinkedIn:

Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/

Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/

Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.com

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro and a Decoded update

00:44 Transaction tokens spec preview

01:51 State of the union on continuous identity

03:39 The questions organizations are asking

04:34 Is it still all about the data

05:07 Shared signals framework moving into commerce

06:40 Is AI a fad at Identiverse this year

07:11 The real cost of securing AI

08:00 Model provenance and indemnity

09:39 IAM for AI versus AI for IAM

10:18 Trusting agents to act without oversight

14:51 Assigning authority to the who and the what

16:13 The cruise booking example and who is on the hook

20:16 Companion agents, consent, and power of attorney

23:00 Does the identity industry own this problem

25:00 Relationship and intent as the real issue

28:03 Could an insurance market emerge for agentic AI

29:18 An access review scenario gone wrong

30:41 Small specialized language models for identity tasks

32:11 Favorite hallway conversations at Identiverse

36:05 Wrap up and words of wisdom on AI FOMO

Keywords: IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Sean O'Dell, Decoded, Identiverse 2026, continuous identity, transaction tokens, shared signals framework, agentic AI, AI security, model provenance, IAM, digital identity, identity and access management